His Most Fervent Wish
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: When Chat Noir is hit by an Akuma that makes him dream of his heart desire, Adrien has his eyes opened to what he really wants. But there is no way that Marinette could possibly be Ladybug...right?
1. Chapter 1

Chat Noir didn't know how he ended up here.

One minute he was in the middle of a battle against an Akuma and then the next minute he was in his bedroom with Ladybug in his arms and their lips firmly fused together. He had absolutely no memory of how this sudden change of scene happened but he certainly wasn't complaining as Ladybug's fingers tangled themselves in his hair and she gasped into his mouth as he greedily stole her breath.

They staggered back into his bed and Chat suddenly found himself pushed down as Ladybug straddled him. She shot him a saucy smirk that hit him straight in the heart before she swooped down and pressed her lips firmly against his.

He moaned delightedly as he returned the kiss as deeply as possible. He tugged her bottom lip between his and suckled lightly which induced the loudest groan he had ever heard before. Then, unfortunately, the need to breathe broke them apart.

His heart raced as he panted desperately, trying to catch his breath, and Ladybug tossed her hair back as she reached up and tugged at her mask.

There is a pale reddish light that almost blinds him and suddenly Ladybug is replaced with Marinette. Her cheeks bright pink and her demeanour has become a little flustered but her beautiful blue eyes still blazed with Ladybug's confidence and her lips were still stretched in that saucy smirk.

His heart stops for a moment.

" _Marinette_?!"

"Yes," she replied, "this is what you wanted, wasn't it?" she asked nervously. "To know me and for me to know you."

His transformation had melted away and Plagg was nowhere to be seen. Adrien suddenly finds it difficult to breathe as he is keenly aware that he was lying on his bed with the most beautiful girl in Paris straddling his hips. Her warm thighs were caging his, her chest bobbed up and down over him as she tried to keep herself calm, and he was increasingly aware of how certain parts were pressed together as a heat he had never felt spread throughout his body.

" _Yes_!" he choked out. "Yes this is what I always wanted," he confessed, "to know you, to _love_ you, the girl behind the mask, the girl that sits behind me, but….but you don't even _like_ me."

"Silly Kitty," she murmured as she leaned down as pressed a loving kiss on his forehead, "I love you," she confessed and he suddenly found his breath had been stolen away once more, "I have _always_ loved you, Adrien, since the day you gave me that umbrella, it's why I am so shy around you," she pressed another kiss on his right temple, "why I can't form coherent sentences when I talk to you," another light brush of her lips on his cheek bone, "why I stutter like an idiot," another kiss so tantalisingly close to his lips, "it's not that I hate you or am uncomfortable around you," she ducked down and kissed his chin teasingly, and he moans in protest, "it's because I _love_ you. And that's why," her lips were close to his own and he could feel her warm breath tickle the skin of his lips, "I had kept Chat Noir at arms' length. Because I was so in love with the boy under the mask to see the hero he is," she dodged his attempt to lean up and kiss her and pressed her lips on the left corner of his own, "but I love Chat Noir too," she reassured him as she kissed his left cheek, "you drive me mad with your puns but secretly I find them amusing," she pressed her lips on his left temple, "you get me all hot and flustered with your flirtations and I admire you for your bravery and kindness," she kissed his forehead again, "you are my other half," a light, almost jokingly, kiss was pressed against his nose and she smiled radiantly at him, " _I love you_ ," she repeated breathlessly.

He moaned happily and just as she was about to actually kiss his lips after so much teasing, he suddenly rolled her over and slammed his lips over hers. He drank her in, the taste of her sweet lips, the warmth of her mouth as he explored every bit of it, the softness of her skin as he trailed his fingers over her pink cheeks, and the sweet, comfortingly, scent that was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

It was everything he had always wanted and he relished every second as he pulled away long enough to catch his breath before capturing her lips in another, sweet, wonderful kiss. He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her chin, just as she had teased him before he ducked even further and began to explore her neck.

" _Chat_!" Marinette suddenly cried out desperately. "You have to wake up!"

He frowned lightly in confusion. He was awake. He had to be awake in order to be able to kiss the love of his life.

"Chat! Chat!" Adrien flinched as it suddenly felt like he was being shaken by somebody but that wasn't possible because Marinette's arms were entwined round his neck and her hands were busy drawing little circles on the back of his neck and stroking his hair to be shaking him. " _Chat Noir_!" Marinette repeated in a panicked tone though her lips weren't moving. "Wake up! _Wake up_ , Chat Noir!"

He shook his head and focused on the small patch of white, silky, skin where Marinette's neck and shoulder met. It tasted divine and he was in heaven. He didn't want to wake up.

"Wake up, Chat!" Marinette said desperately. "I need you! Please! Chat Noir!" his whole body rocked as he was suddenly shaken harder than before. " _ **WAKE UP**_!" Marinette bellowed in his ear.

He gasped as his eyes suddenly shot open.

And a horrified realisation that everything in the last few minutes was a dream suddenly slams into him hard. He was lying on the cold, dirty, ground in the middle of Paris, his head was cradled in Ladybug's lap as her concerned face loomed over him.

"Oh thank God!" she cried out as she clutched him close. "You had been hit by the Akuma and just collapsed. I was worried."

"What…" his mouth is dry and he licked his lips and coughed in order to clear his throat, "what happened?" he asked wearily.

"The Akuma had been denied their greatest desire," Ladybug explained hastily, "she's been sending everyone into comas. Something about them dreaming about what they want most. She's very slippery and got away, I need your help to catch her before she has the whole of Paris in a coma." He nodded numbly in reply as he struggled to process what he had just been told. _What they want most…._ "Chat," Ladybug placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "whatever it was that you saw," she said seriously, "it's not _real,_ you know that right?"

 _It's not real._

Marinette was not Ladybug.

 _It's not real._

Marinette did not love him.

 _It's not real._

He had not just spent the last few minutes making out with Marinette, who was Ladybug, in his bed after she confessed his love.

 _It's not real._

….but by God, did he want it to be real.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien's first response to his new revelation, after they had defeated the Akuma and he made it safely back home, was to instantly deny it all.

After all he couldn't be in love with Marinette because he was in love with Ladybug. Ladybug has been the only thing he has ever thought about since she crashed into him on that first day. She snuck into every thought and every dream and he has been so obsessed with the black spotted scarlet superhero that he has never given a passing thought to the pretty princess in pink.

He would have noticed his feelings for Marinette blossoming, surely?

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Plagg drawled out when Adrien voiced his reasoning, "you're so oblivious and stupid sometimes that you wouldn't notice if _Cupid himself_ flew up to you and shot an arrow directly into your face."

" _Plagg_!" Adrien snapped. "That's not helpful whatsoever."

"I'm not trying to be helpful," Plagg replied snarkily. "Well," he paused for a moment, "I am trying to be helpful. I'm just not trying to be helpful with your denial."

"What do you mean _my denial_?!" Adrien spluttered indignantly. " _How am I in denial_?!"

"As soon as we came home you were instantly said there was no way you could be in love with this Marinette girl," Plagg pointed out in a rather insultingly bored tone, "that's called _denial_ especially when you just had a dream about your greatest desire and lo and behold! It was all about _Marinette._ "

"I can't be in love with her, Plagg," Adrien said helplessly, "I just can't be."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Adrien repeated incredulously. " _Why not_?!" his voice almost squeaked at this point. "You _know_ why not, Plagg! I love _Ladybug_!"

"Meh," Plagg shrugged, "if you say so."

" _I do say so_!"

Plagg, however, had grown bored of the conversation and ignored Adrien as he went to help himself to some cheese. Adrien spluttered for several painful minutes as Plagg blissfully bit into cheese and moaned to himself. Eventually Adrien gave up protesting altogether and went to have a shower in an attempt to relax and take his mind of things.

At some point that evening Adrien was able to drift off into sleep and was confronted by the wonderful sight of Ladybug stretched out beside him on his bed as they exchanged sweet kisses and soft caresses.

When the need to breath forced them apart though Adrien was greeted with the sight of a flushed, panting, Marinette.

"Adrien!" she moaned pleadingly as her fingers entwined themselves in his hair. Her eyes were fluttered shut keeping her ignorant to what was probably a horrified expression of realisation. "Kitty!" she groaned causing his heart to flutter. " _Please_!"

He didn't protest or fight when she pulled him close again so that her warm breathe tickled his lips.

" _Marinette_ ," he murmured.

There was a whole whirlwind of emotions battling within him that made him dizzy with confusion, terror, and a hopeful ecstasy as he leaned in to kiss the girl he was so madly in lo-

 _ **BEEP! BEEP!**_

Adrien shot up immediately as he clutched his chest. His heart thumped loudly as it raced at incredible speeds. He had just been able to kiss Marinette. He dreamt about her _again._

The thought of Marinette's rosy pink cheeks and beautiful blue eyes shining with love for him made his stomach somersault, his heart skip, and a painful, happy, hope surge up within him to the point he could almost choke on his laughter. The idea of her soft, delicate, fingers brush against his skin made him fizz with anticipation. The mere suggestion of anything made him feel giddy.

And yet, he dreamt about her as Ladybug.

Again.

Somehow, someway, Adrien had fallen for his classmate. The cute, sweet, girl that he had always wanted to know and be friends with had become something so much more, to the point it rivalled his feelings for Ladybug, without him realising it.

He still loved Ladybug. Desperately, madly, almost obsessively, he still _loved her_. And it wasn't because she was Ladybug it was because she was this strong, brave, girl who did what was right even when she terrified.

He once declared that whoever it was behind the mask, he loved her.

Now he was dreaming that she was the girl he loved. The girl he hadn't known he loved until he had his eyes cruelly open.

He loved Marinette.

He loved Ladybug.

But he would love them both more if they were one and the same.

Did that mean he only loved the girl behind the mask if she was Marinette?

Then he remembered with a horrible sinking sensation in his stomach what Ladybug had said yesterday. _Whatever it was that you saw it's not_ _ **real,**_ _you know that right?_ His desire for it to be real was very real as was his feelings but that didn't mean it was which would mean that no matter what, no matter who he decided he really loved, he would never really _love them_ fully.

"…I am the worst," he whispered horrified with himself, "utterly the worst…."

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

It didn't occur to Marinette exactly how damaging the last Akuma had been until the next day when she got to class.

Everyone, and she means _**everyone,**_ even _Chloe_ , was quiet and subdued that morning. They all looked pale with dark shadows under their eyes as they huddled inwardly to themselves and slouched over their desks. The classroom felt heavy with gloominess and misery and made Marinette instinctively wrap her arms round herself in an attempt to protect herself.

"Hey," she smiled warmly as possible to Alya, "How are you?"

"Hi Marinette," Alya replied quietly. Her cheerful, bold, loudness had been muted entirely and her usual wide smile was a bare twitch of the lips that looked closer to a grimace more than anything. Marinette eyed her best friend worriedly as she couldn't help but note the black smudges under Alya's eyes and her general dishevelled-ness as her hair looked like it hadn't seen a hairbrush, and that she had been tossing and turning all night, and her blouse was severely rumpled. "I'm….fine," Alya lied poorly. "You?"

Marinette chewed on her bottom lip anxiously. She would have believed Alya more if her redheaded friend said pigs were currently flying outside than she did this very moment. Alya was blatantly lying about being fine.

"I'm all right," she shrugged, "It could have been worse. I could have been hit by that Akuma yesterday."

Alya shrank a little at that. "You're lucky," she said miserably, "you didn't have your hopes and dreams shoved into your face and ripped into teeny tiny pieces."

Marinette's eyes widened at the bitterness in Alya's voice and face. Alya was always so full of hope and courage and never giving up. It was so wrong to see her this upset. "Alya…." She said helplessly.

But before she could say anything substantial and comforting their teacher came in and started up class. It would be another two hours before Marinette could drag Alya away from the crowds and duck into a bathroom for a little privacy.

Fortunately she didn't have to press Alya for details or interrogate her as Alya almost instantaneously crumpled.

"Oh Marinette!" she sobbed. "I feel so….so…so _insignificant_! And stupid, and pathetic, and useless."

"Oh Alya, _no_!" Marinette cried out softly as she wrapped her arms round her best friend and squeezed her tightly. "Why would you feel like that? You're one of the most resourceful, and clever, and bravest person I know. You run the _Ladyblog_! You dive into dangerous situation and get the story that Paris wants to read about. You're far from insignificant."

"I thought," Alya said wobbly as her eyes filled with tears, "that there is nothing more in the world that I wanted than to unmask Ladybug. To get the biggest scoop of the century and be the best investigative reporter there ever was."

Marinette ripped some toilet roll and scrunched it up to dab at Alya's face. It spoke volumes that Alya had swatted her away and told her not to baby her. Alya's confidence and independence had really taken a beating. "But the Akuma dream showed you something different?" she asked gently.

"In my dream I _was_ the superhero," Alya said wistfully, "I was the one saving the world. I was the one with the superpowers I was the one that everyone wanted to write the stories about."

Marinette barely repressed the full body flinch that came across her. Alya had almost been that superhero that everyone wanted to write and talk about. Her dream had almost been a reality and it hadn't been because Marinette took up the mantle after trying to throw it away five minutes before.

"I….I… I…. I always liked superheroes," Alya smiled weakly, "Captain America and Spiderman and Batman and all the rest, they all stood for things that I believed in, but I always thought I identified with the likes of Lois Lane. I thought I was a _reporter_ first."

"Well," Marinette said uncomfortably as she wasn't entirely sure what to say, "If it makes you feel better I think you're the finest reporter in Paris. You've managed to get more scoops on Ladybug and Chat Noir than the ones actually paid to do it."

"It's not the _same_ , Marinette," Alya said sadly, "it's not the same as being the _chosen one_. No one has looked at me and thought I was worthy to be gifted with powers to save the world like Ladybug and Chat Noir have. _Me!_ The girl that has studied every comic, cartoon, manga, and movie about superheroes that ever was. I know everything there is to be a superhero and it wasn't enough because I blatantly lacked something fundamental and important. There is something defective in me."

"No there isn't!" Marinette snapped. "You're _amazing!_ You stand up to the bullies and you don't let other people's opinions of you drag you down. You have always stood for truth and justice and doing the right thing. And I bet you all my Adrien photos that if you marched up to Ladybug right now and asked her where she got her inspiration to be a hero from she would say it was from _you_."

"All of your Adrien photos, huh?" Alya snorted weakly. "Then you must be right. You would never risk a single picture of your precious _Hot Stuff_."

Marinette flushed at that. " _Alya_!" she whined, embarrassed.

Alya, however, laughed.

Her real, hearty, happy, laugh and with a cheeky wink she ripped off more toilet roll to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. "I'm all right now," she said reassuringly, "I feel a lot better now, thanks Girl," she hugged Marinette tightly, "you're the best."

"Only because you're the best too," Marinette replied, "remember that. You're the best person around. Ladybug would be lucky to be half as bold and brave and amazing as you are."

"Oh now you're just sucking up!" Alya teased.

"Am not!" Marinette protested.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

They bickered like this for the entirety of their break and up till they reached their next class where their teacher ordered them to be silent. To see Alya almost back to her old self warmed Marinette considerably but as soon as she settled back into her own thoughts (and happily tuned out the boring drone of mathematics) a cold dread flooded her stomach.

After all Chat Noir had been hit by the same Akuma and he had been forced to dream his heart's desire just like Alya had been.

She remembered the utterly heartbroken look on his face when he realised whatever it was that he saw hadn't been real.

If Alya could come out convinced that there was something defective with her because her dreams couldn't be a reality then there was a horrifyingly strong possibility that Chat was equally filled with self-loathing.

She couldn't bear the thought of her Kitty torturing himself over something like this.

Unfortunately though that was exactly what he had done and was still doing when she met him at night patrol later that evening.

Chat Noir was uncharacteristically still and broody as he gazed off into the distance upon Ladybug's arrival. Instead of his magnificently huge Cheshire cat grin as he grabbed her hand to kiss and uttered a pun-fill greeting, Chat hadn't even noticed Ladybug arriving.

And then after a very muted and short interaction they had wandered the city in silence. Ladybug felt rather bereft without Chat's annoying pun-dropping and silly flirtations.

It felt all so _wrong._

After two very painfully long hours they halted to a stop, ready to part ways as they usually did, and Ladybug took advantage of the moment to reach out and grab Chat's wrist before he could run off.

"Chat…." She said hesitatingly. "Are you…..are you…..Are you all right, Chat?"

"No," he replied snarkily, "I'm half left."

She was so relieved to hear a word play from Chat Noir that instead of taking offence from his tone or rolling her eyes at the word play, she pressed her lips together tightly to prevent a smile. "That's not what I meant," she said sternly, "and you know it. Are you _okay_ after yesterday?"

Chat smiled softly and for a moment Ladybug felt her breathe being stolen as she was suddenly reminded of another beautiful blonde boy with the same soft, sweet, smile. "I had my eyes opened to something I never realised I wanted," Chat Noir said sadly, "and I am trying to come to terms with it."

"Well," Ladybug bit her lip nervously, "if you need someone to talk to. I am here for you. We're partners after all. That's what we're supposed to do. Support each other, I mean."

She could kick herself for suddenly babbling like she usually did round Adrien. All she needed to do now was stutter and get her words out in the wrong order, and it would be classic Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

It did the job though as a much wider and warmer smile blossomed on Chat's face and he smoothly flipped over their hands so he now clasped hers between his. "Thank you, My Lady," he said reverently as he pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles, "I am most _fur_ tunate to have such a _purr_ -fect partner that sup _purr_ ts me."

Ladybug groaned loudly at that. "Urgh!" she rolled her eyes. "I changed my mind I don't miss them at all."

She was lying, of course, it made her smile as Chat's chuckles filled the night air.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien still felt like the very scum of the universe.

He still couldn't make heads or tails with his feelings for both Marinette and Ladybug. He loved them. Both of them. Very much so. He knew that his desire for them to be one and the same wasn't the same as it being _true_ , and that until he could decide between his clumsy, sweet, Princess, and his heroic, bold, Lady, he might as well be a two-timing jerk.

(" _Urgh_!" Plagg rolled his eyes disgustedly. "There's no need to be so melodramatic, Kid, you like two girls. _Big deal_.")

Adrien had tried to sift through his feelings and decided on a girl that his heart truly belonged to. He had, at first, solidly decided on his first love Ladybug but he had almost collided into Marinette at school, and spent a whole day witnessing her being wonderful as she cheered Alya up, and felt his heart and stomach do incredible acrobatics every time she glanced in his direction. So he felt himself persuaded that it was Marinette he loved more than anything, right up until his Night Patrol when Ladybug showed that endearingly nervous side of herself and stole his heart away again.

He went to bed in love with Ladybug all over again only to wake up from a heady dream that involved Marinette. Now the thought of seeing her again made his stomach swoop in excitement and his heart flutter.

He was such an indecisive bastard.

His fellow classmates were still a little quiet and subdued. Chloe had refrained from flinging herself at Adrien for a second morning in a row and Adrien couldn't help but nervously look out for the other signs of the apocalypse at her near politeness to Marinette when she stepped aside to let the black-blue haired girl to enter the classroom first.

Alya, however, almost seemed to be back to her old self as she greeted Marinette warmly and then shoved her phone under Marinette's nose to show her the latest Ladybug and Chat Noir photos.

"….it was excellently written, Alya, honest!" Marinette enthused. "I think it was one of the best ever yet."

"Well," Alya sounded both flattered and proud, "I put my all into it yesterday. It helped me feel better."

"I'm glad," Marinette said softly, "I was worried that you would still feel upset about the whole….you know."

"Yeah, I know," Alya said with fond exasperation, "but I'm much better now, thanks to you. What about you, Marinette?" Alya asked quickly to change the subject. "Are you all right?"

"Nah," Marinette teased, "I'm half left."

Adrien froze at that.

He could virtually hear the grin in Marinette's voice at this point. He could easily visualise Marinette brushing her pigtail off of her shoulder as she gave her best, fiercest, battle-ready grin just as Ladybug would in the middle of a fight.

For that one single moment she sounded like Ladybug but what more – _more importantly_! – the very words she uttered had been the exact same ones he had said to Ladybug last night.

Ladybug said whatever he had dreamt wasn't real…

...but she had no idea what he had dreamt of.

A flicker of hope lit up in Adrien's heart as causing it to skip a beat as he realised there was a possibility, a real actual strong possibility, that he could have everything he wanted.

Marinette could be Ladybug.


	3. Chapter 3

First though he needed proof that Marinette and Ladybug were one and the same.

After all it could have just been a coincidence that Marinette said something that Chat Noir said to Ladybug the night before. Marinette could just be witty, not Ladybug. It could easily just be a coincidence that both Marinette and Ladybug had the same big, beautiful, blue eyes and the same black-blue hair neatly scraped into pigtails, and the same splatter of freckles on their nose.

After all how many black-blued haired, blue eyed, freckly girls were there in Pairs?

So Adrien set out to find evidence before he said something and made a complete prat of himself.

He had decided to keep a keen eye on Marinette's movements when an Akuma attack was involved. If she and Ladybug were one and the same then he would be able to see the pattern of Marinette disappearing just as Ladybug made her appearance.

This, however, proved to be incredibly difficult. Akuma attacks were currently few and far between and rarely when Adrien and Marinette were together for him to observe her. This was a rather unusual occurrence as previously Chloe had managed to cause one practically every week, sometimes _twice in one day_!

This forced Adrien to actually pay some attention to his childhood friend and he realised with a painful grimace and a huge sense of shame that Chloe hadn't been herself since the Desire Akuma had attacked them either.

She still looked immaculately perfect appearance wise.

No one could ever accuse Chloe of letting her own depression warp her appearance as every golden strand of her hair was shiny clean and neatly tied in her customary ponytail. There was not a single smudge of dark shadow under her perfectly made up eyes and her foundation (matched to her colouring perfectly) was so even and smooth you couldn't tell whether or not she was paler.

Yet Chloe was uncharacteristically quiet and kept her arms firmly crossed as if she could hug herself back to confidence. Her head seemed forever ducked down as she stared at her shoes and nothing, not even the chance to insult someone, baited her into actually speaking that much.

Their teachers and other classmates would probably praise the lord for the peace and silence if it wasn't for the fact it was so worrying.

Even Marinette, who had such a long-standing rivalry and grudge with Chloe, kept casting concerned side-ways glances at Chloe.

(Which just made Adrien's heart melt all the more with adoration of the sweet girl that sat behind him.)

Worried, Adrien approached Sabrina who would know better than anyone else what might be going through Chloe's head.

"She won't tell me," Sabrina shook her head sadly, "every time I tried she shuts down and she scoffs every time I suggest therapy or something."

"What about you?" Adrien asked softly. Sabrina had been hit by the Akuma like everyone else and the dreams probably haunted her just as much as his and Chloe's seemed to. "Are you okay?"

"What I saw scared me," Sabrina admitted, "but I spoke to Dad and he's got me some help and I'm learning to not let all my bad feelings get so repressed that I want _that._ " Adrien must have looked alarmed because Sabrina gave him a comforting smile. "I'm okay, Adrien," she reassured him, "it's _Chloe_ I'm worried about."

"I'll try and talk to her," Adrien promised.

"Why?" Plagg complained moments later when they were in the safety of a cubical in the boy's bathroom. "It's been nice to not have so many Akuma attacks in one week. Why mess with a good thing?"

" _Plagg!_ " Adrien hissed. "Chloe is my _friend!_ She obviously needs someone to talk to and that's what I'm here for!"

"Nah," Plagg drawled lazily, "I think it has something to do with the fact that you need her to cause more Akuma attacks so you can see what your precious princess does."

Adrien spluttered indignantly. "That is not why I am worried about Chloe!" he protested. "She's my friend!"

"Whatever you say, Kid," Plagg said indifferently, "but I know the truth. We cats are selfish creatures after all."

Adrien's indignant splutters and protests were duly ignored by Plagg. To make things worse Plagg was kind of right….it wasn't Adrien's main motivation, he did genuinely care about Chloe and was worried about her, but he was incredibly consciously aware as soon as Chloe was herself again business as usual would resume and he could start observing Marinette whenever an Akuma attack started.

He was a horrible being.

It was just after school and Chloe was alone as she waited for her chauffer to pick her up when Adrien approached her. At first glance she looked typically Chloe as she tapped her foot impatiently and shot disgusted looks at passer-bys, but she was still seemed unnaturally closed up.

"Hey Chloe," he greeted her, "How are you?"

"Oh," Chloe blinked, "hello Adrien, I'm okay. Exhausted and irritated by the poor service, of course," she added with her usual disdain, "I'm going to have a word with Daddy and get this lousy excuse of a driver fired. _Hmmph_!"

She flicked her hair indignantly and gave an extra haughty look to the world but she wasn't completely committed to her act and as soon as her eyes landed on someone in the distance something crumbled behind her blue eyes.

Also she called him Adrien.

 _Adrien!_

Not Adri-kins or some other ridiculous, cringe worthy, pet-name that made him want to crawl into a hole.

Something was definitely not right.

"Chloe," Adrien said softly as he placed a hand on her arm, "how are you _really_?" he stressed. "After that Akuma attack."

Chloe weakened slightly but not enough to actually say something. Her silence spoke volumes though and Adrien decided to press the subject.

"Did you see your Mum?" he asked.

"Ha!" Chloe scoffed. " _As if!_ Why on earth would I want her back when I have everything that I ever need right here."

"I miss my Mum too, you know," Adrien said gently, "it's totally understandable if you-"

"It's not my Mum, _all right_!" Chloe interrupted crossly. "It's something completely stupid and _I don't want to talk about it_!"

"It's not stupid," Adrien said, "whatever it is you desire can't be stupid if it's so important to you."

"It's stupid," Chloe said flatly, "I hate her, Adrien, _absolutely hate her_!" Chloe hissed the last three words so fiercely that spittle flew out of her mouth. "So why the hell do I want to be _friends_ with her?!"

Adrien wasn't entirely sure who Chloe was talking about but he could hazard a guess that it was one of, if not all, the girls in their class.

Chloe was probably pretty lonely with only Sabrina really wanting to be her friend.

"You know there's nothing wrong with wanting more friends," Adrien murmured, "that's perfectly natural."

"Whatever," Chloe muttered.

"I know we don't spend much time together anymore," Adrien said, "and I don't always approve on how you treat other people but you are still my friend, Chloe, and I'm sure if you gave whoever it is a chance to see your nicer side, she would be your friend too."

" _Urgh_!" Chloe groaned. "You're so sappy, Adrien that it's _revolting_!"

But she was smiling, just a little bit, and when her car finally arrived she stomped into it with the full one hundred percent Chloe Bourgeois confidence.

The regular Akuma attacks resumed the very next morning.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Every time she asked to be excused from class – which was happening a lot more often now Chloe was back to her regular self – she could swear that she felt someone's eyes bore into her very skin. It made her skin itch uncomfortably as her cheeks heat up in embarrassment and she stumbled on both her words and feet as she hastily left the classroom.

This had been happening for three weeks now and it was beginning to make her paranoid.

Especially since Adrien has taken to interrogating her on her whereabouts during every Akuma attack.

Marinette was convinced she was going to die of heart failure before the year was out.

"You don't think he suspects I'm Ladybug, do you?" Marinette anxiously asked Tiki every other evening. "Adrien, I mean," she elaborated unnecessarily, "he's always _questioning_ me where I am during Akuma attacks. You don't think I have given it away somehow, do you?"

"Of course not!" Tiki nuzzled her cheek comfortingly. "I think Adrien is just worried about you. You have nothing to worry about," Tiki said reassuringly as she gave Marinette's cheek another nuzzle, "I'm sure Adrien's only asking because he likes you very much."

"I….ah….you….guh….blah!" Marinette stammered incoherently as her face went bright red. "Oh _Tiki!_ " she managed to gasp. "Do you really think so?"

Tiki's amused giggle was not the satisfactory answer that Marinette was looking for.

The creepy sensation that Marinette was being watched didn't lighten up nor did Adrien's concerned interrogation that sent her into a flustered blabbering mess. Marinette was seriously worried that she was going to accidentally spill all of her secrets at this point. Because she really couldn't control her mouth whenever Adrien paid the slightest amount of attention to her, how was she supposed to keep her wits about her if he kept staring at her the way he has been these last few weeks?

However Marinette's luck changed during one Akuma attack. She had barely ay time to dodge this Akuma's magic when she all but fell into the janitor's closet and had the door lock on her.

First, Marinette hastily looked for a window but there wasn't one to be seen. "Don't worry, Marinette!" Tiki chirped. "I can just phase through the door and-"

"No," Marinette shook her head, "that's okay Tiki this could be a good thing. If I'm so obviously locked in here then I can't be Ladybug and it would throw anyone off the scent."

Tiki shook her head at that. She still didn't think that Adrien could suspect that Marinette was Ladybug and she definitely thought that Marinette was being extremely paranoid.

Also she blatantly disapproved of Marinette's idea.

"But Marinette," she reminded her sternly, "if you're locked up in here then you _can't be Ladybug_."

"Not necessarily, Tiki," Marinette grinned slyly as she pointed upwards. "There's always a way out."

Tiki looked up as her eyes widened in understanding. " _Ooooooooooooooooooooh_!" she smiled, "well in that case, you know the magic words Marinette."

"Tiki!" Marinette called out. " _Transform Me_!"

In no time Marinette was transformed into Ladybug and with the help of her Ladybug powers she wrenched open the grid on the ventilation and used her yoyo to haul herself in. she crawled through the musty, narrow, tubes until she reached the nearest vent and kicked it open.

The battle itself was quick and she hurried through the customary fist bump so she could hurry back into school. She had just slammed the ventilation grid back into place when her transformation wore off.

This was when her bad luck kicked in.

It would take two, horrifically long, hours before someone finds her. Her patience wore out quickly and she had banged against the door and screamed for a solid ten minutes before she gave up from exhaustion and made herself as comfortable as she could on a bucket and worked on some of her designs.

When the caretaker finally opened the closet door it was incredibly awkward and embarrassing to explain why she was there.

Especially when she was barrelling past the poor man to dash into the toilet.

 _She was desperate!_

Eventually she finally, shamefully, slinked back into class under the disapproving stare of her teacher. The rest of the afternoon in school (all forty five minutes of it) was humiliating as Chloe kept snickering at her and everyone else glanced at her every so often.

" _Marinette_!" Adrien cried out when class was dismissed. "Where have you been?" he asked worriedly. "You _vanished_ during the Akuma Attack!"

"I, erm, got stuck!" Marinette blurted out, flustered. "In the janitor's closet. You know the one under the stairs by the entrance? I only just got out."

"Girl," Alya shook her head disbelievingly, "you have the worst luck."

"Well," Adrien smiled as he squeezed Marinette's shoulder (her heart fluttered ridiculously at that), "I'm glad you're safe."

Marinette swooned a little but she managed to keep her senses enough to notice Adrien actually ducking in the closet on her way out to school.

For all the embarrassment it caused she was glad she went through with it.

Her secret identity was kept secret for another day.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien checked the closet that Marinette claimed to have been stuck in and he couldn't find one single window that she could have climbed out of as Ladybug.

Which meant Marinette had well and truly been stuck during the Akuma battle and therefore couldn't be Ladybug.

The disappointment weighed heavily in his heart but he resigned himself to giving up the idea that the two girls he loved were one and the same.

Instead he devoted himself in getting to know both girls better.

Which was a task worthy of the twelve labours of Hercules in itself. What with Ladybug evading personal questions – especially during battles – like a master politician and Marinette incapable of forming coherent sentences without running off or Chloe suddenly interrupting, it takes a while before he could get a straight answer out of either girl.

Then, thankfully, his luck changed and he managed to get a light-hearted rapport going during a night patrol with Ladybug.

"You know getting to know one another better would only make us stronger as a team," he suggested lightly in between the puns and banter, "we would be able to read each other much more efficiently in battle if we knew how the other thinks."

Ladybug stiffened at that. "Chat," she said sternly, "if this is you angling for us to reveal one another's identities then I thought I made myself clear that-"

"No, no, no!" he said hurriedly as he gestured his surrender wildly. " _That's not what I meant_! I understand and respect your decision to keep our identities a secret from one another." Well… _understand_ might be a bit of a white lie, he didn't, but he loved and respected her too much to press the issue. For now. "I just meant actually _getting to know one another_ , like our favourite film, or our favourite colour, or what we like to eat, that kind of thing."

Ladybug softened at that. "If you tell me that your favourite thing to eat is fish I may just smack you," she teased.

"My Lady, I would _never!_ " he mocked gasped. "As if I would ever fall into such a clichéd cat trap like that." Ladybug snorted at that and they shared a grin. "If you must know I have a deep, unsatisfied, love for anything unhealthy and fattening."

How he would dearly love a slice of pizza or a cookie or even a vegetable quiche with its thick, crusty pastry, and creamy filling. Anything that would make his dietician faint essentially.

"Such a _boy,_ Kitty," Ladybug smiled, "I have a rather big sweet tooth," she admitted, "hard not to when-" she suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth as her cheeks went bright pink. He had a feeling that she was just about to reveal something that was key to her actual identity but before he could decide whether or not to press for details she hastily changed the topic. "What's your favourite colour then?"

"Blue," he replied promptly, "in fact your eyes are the exact shade I _fur_ -vour the most." Ladybug rolled her eyes at that. "And your favourite colour, My Lady?"

"Well," Ladybug gestured towards herself, "isn't it obvious?"

"I don't blame you," he grinned as he took in her scarlet splendour, "red is very becoming of you."

"Wha…?" Ladybug shook her head bewilderedly before her eyes widened in realisation. " _Oh_!" she flushed. "I forgot I wasn't in my civilian clothes, sorry," she smiled sheepishly, "that's usually my answer whenever anyone asks. It's really obvious what my favourite colour is when you see what I wear and what my room looks like."

" _Which is_?" he pressed.

"Ah Kitty," Ladybug smiled almost flirtatiously, "a Lady has to have some mysteries, no?"

"My Lady the curiosity is _paw-_ stively killing me!" he cried out melodramatically and was rewarded with another eye roll. "At least tell me your favourite flower!"

"I don't really have one," Ladybug shrugged, "they're all beautiful."

He would have asked more but as usual Plagg made his exhaustion and hunger well known by suddenly making the miraculous beep loudly and obnoxiously. So after his usual goodbyes (with a light, fluttering, kiss on her knuckles) he rushed back home in time for his de-transformation feeling satisfied in making some headway in getting to know Ladybug.

His luck continued to improve the very next day when he got to spend some uninterrupted time with Marinette when they were tasked to fetch some books from the stock room. They had, for the most part, walked in awkward silence as Marinette went pinker and pinker.

"So, erm, what's your favourite food?!" Adrien suddenly blurted out in a poor attempt to break the ice. The result was a loud, surprising, squeak from Marinette as she leaped away from him in shock. "Sorry," he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "I was just trying to…you know?"

"Oh!" Marinette flushed. " _No_! I, err, you, gah, I mean, _it's okay_!" she babbled hastily and incoherently. " _Sweet tooth_!" she chirped. Her eyes bulged out with embarrassment and she coughed loudly. "I, erm, mean I have a sweet tooth," she said in a much more normal voice, "it's kinda hard not to when your parents are bakers, you know?"

"You're so _lucky_!" Adrien enthused. "I would love to have so many treats at my fingertips." Marinette smiled in reply as her face went even brighter. She didn't, however, try to speak again and so Adrien tried to press on. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Isn't it oblivious?" there is a beat of silence as Adrien frowned bewilderedly and Marinette looks horrified. " _Gah!_ " she cried out "No! I meant isn't it ob-ob-ob," she stammered nervously, "urgh! Just _look at me_!" she gestured to herself. "That's what I meant!"

Adrien tried very hard to not flick his eyes up and down Marinette's body like a pervert. He had no qualms the night before with Ladybug who had so confidently invited it but Marinette was such a nervous wreck that if she ever suspected a mop to look at her like the way he was fighting hard to not look at her….well then, she may actually have an actual mental breakdown.

"Pink?" he guessed and Marinette happily nodded at that. "Ah," Adrien smiled sheepishly, "it really is obvious when I think about it. Your room is very pink."

He paused at that.

Something about what he had just said and what Marinette had tried to say reminded him of the night before.

No.

He shook his head.

 _It's just a coincidence!_ He tried to tell himself. He practically screamed it inside his head. _You already established they can't be one and the same!_

Yet despite all logic and reason the next questions pops out of Adrien's mouth before he could help himself.

"What about your favourite flower?" he asked. "Do you have one?"

"I don't really have one," Marinette smiled shyly as she looked physically relieved to have uttered a full sentence without embarrassing herself, "they're all beautiful."

Her words steal his breath away as his heart did one great big leap of joy and hope filled him to the brim.

She said the _exact same words_ as Ladybug!

 _ **THE EXACT SAME WORDS!**_

It can't be a coincidence, can it? Her answers almost matched Ladybug word to word there is no way that it can be a coincidence, right? _Right?!_

….especially, when Adrien really thinks about it and remembers some of his own misadventures in finding a place to hide and transform, there was a vent in that janitor's closet that Ladybug could have crawled through and no one would be any of the wiser.

The possibility of the two girls he loved being one and same was suddenly resurrected in his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

He was going insane.

No, _literally._

He felt like he was losing his mind.

He hasn't been able to think straight for days and it's beginning to really eat away at him.

All he did – day and night, whether he was awake or asleep, in class, at photoshoots, during battles, _every single moment_ – was obsess over the idea that maybe, _just maybe_ , Marinette was Ladybug.

It didn't help that everything kept shifting and changing before he could be truly certain of it.

He thinks he has proof when Marinette vanishes during one battle just as Ladybug makes her appearance only for Marinette to pull out another miraculous alibi that he cannot disprove. Then another time her lie sounds so _fake_ to his ears – she was possessed and turned into another minion, she had been in the bathroom, she was here they just didn't notice her – and he knows because he uses them to that he begins to hope all over again.

Then there was the things they, Marinette and Ladybug that is, have in common, they both hated Chloe, they like the same colour, they both like sweets, they love all flowers….but then Marinette is shy and squeaks while Ladybug stands tall and confident and speaks eloquently whether she's putting down the enemy, countering his flirtations, or making a speech in front of the media. And Adrien doubts all over again.

Then he remembers how clumsy Ladybug was on their first meeting and how outrageously indignant and righteous Marinette was on their first day. It was like he had met Marinette first and Ladybug second and he begins to wonder.

He tried comparing their photos as proof but despite the fact they obviously had blue eyes, and dark hair, and a splatter of freckles, he knows they do, he can't somehow make the connection. For some reason Ladybug's blue eyes aren't the same shade as Marinette's or maybe it's because Marinette's lips are shaped differently or….or…or….Adrien's mind goes fuzzy and a headache thumps loudly within his temples before Plagg suddenly yanked him away from the photos.

"Enough of that, Kid," he said firmly, "you'll drive yourself mad. The glamour isn't going to let you see past it."

"Plagg," Adrien murmured as he wobbled to his feet, "I feel woozy…."

" _That's because you're not getting enough sleep_!"

How could he?

Because all he dreamt about was them. Marinette and Ladybug. Sometimes together. Sometimes Ladybug pulls her mask off to reveal Marinette's face or Marinette gives him Ladybug's saucy grin before she slides the red and black polka-dotted mask over her face. Sometimes though Ladybug isn't Marinette and she's furious that he wants her to be. She accuses him of not really loving the girl behind the mask. Other times Marinette is Ladybug but accuses him of only loving her _because_ of that.

The kissing dreams still make their appearance. They get steamier and steamier each time and it makes the mornings very awkward around Plagg.

It's needless to say that Adrien hasn't had a full night of sleep in weeks and with his insane schedule it's _damning._

"You look like you're on the verge of rocking back and forth in a corner like a crazy person," Plagg observed unhelpfully. "See," he carried on as he stretched out lazily, "this is why I stick to cheese. Humans are the worst."

" _You don't understand_!" Adrien snapped agitatedly as he shoved a hand through his hair. He practically yanked out several golden strands he was so stressed and the outside pain distracted him temporarily from the monsoon of emotions whirling within him. "This could mean _everything_ for me!"

"You're overthinking it, Kid," Plagg yawned, "Just trap her. Give her something during an Akuma battle and then see if Marinette has it later on."

" _Don't you think I haven't tried that already_?!" Adrien yelped. "It didn't _work_!"

It felt like fate itself was conspiring against him.

He tried presenting Ladybug with a bracelet during an Akuma Attack a few days ago and the blast sent by the Akuma shattered it into tiny pieces. Ladybug's Miraculous didn't repair it which really cemented the idea that fate was against them. That or Ladybug's magic sensed his nefarious intentions and thwarted them without hesitating.

He then thought about showing Ladybug Marinette's lucky charm before giving it to her to provoke her revealing herself but he ran the risk that Ladybug wasn't Marinette and he ends up giving a precious gift from an important person to a nameless, faceless, girl. The idea of trying to explain that to Marinette made him gulp nervously.

So he scraped that plan completely.

"You know," Plagg drawled, "you could have saved yourself all this hassle if you just _opened_ that damn closet door all those months ago."

"I couldn't disrespect My Lady's wishes like that," Adrien shook his head, "it's why I haven't followed her after attacks. If we can't trust one another and respect one another then how can we fight Hawk Moth?"

"Urgh," Plagg groaned disgustedly, "why do I always get the noble, self-righteous, ones?"

Adrien ignored him as he took up pacing up and down his room while running his hands through his hair like a mad man. "There's got to be something," he muttered, "someway, someone…."

"What about the nosey one?" Plagg suggested. "She's always around battles with that camera thing. Surely she knows something?"

"Alya?" Adrien blinked. Then he remembered something incredible and his face split wide open with the biggest grin he felt in ages. " _Alya_!" he cried out delighted. "Plagg! You're a genius!"

"I know," Plagg smirked smugly.

Adrien raced over to his computer and threw himself into his chair as he eagerly turned it on. "Alya did an interview with Ladybug ages ago!" Adrien explained. "It had all this personal stuff as well as the superhero stuff. There's got to be some evidence in there! There's just got to be! And Ladybug hates liars, and if she's Marinette she definitely wouldn't lie to Alya, so either way the answers are there. I can't believe I forgot about this!"

"Neither can I," Plagg said, "it was the only thing you read for days. I swear you still quote it in your sleep."

Adrien ignored the snark in favour of scrambling through Alya's archive before he finally found the interview. He eagerly clicked on to and began to read….

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Several months ago Marinette had accidentally deleted Alya's video of Ladybug.

Before Marinette met Alya, she never had a best friend. In fact Marinette sometimes wondered if she actually _had_ any friends. As nice as all her other classmates were (apart from Chloe) when Marinette was being emotionally tortured by Chloe no one had ever stood up for her or helped her. Alya was the first person to stand by her side at Chloe's worst, Alya was the first person to truly accept Marinette for all of her crazy, and Alya was the person that inspired Marinette to take a stand for herself and other people.

So Marinette would do anything to make Alya happy as either herself or Ladybug and that included making Alya's day by saying hello as Ladybug for a video for the Ladyblog.

Which was why when Marinette's bad luck reared its ugly head and she somehow managed to trip, almost drop Alya's phone over the balcony, and deleted the video in the process, Marinette was so hell-bent determined to do whatever it takes to make up for it.

And that included giving Alya the exclusive interview she always craved for.

It went brilliantly at first, Alya asked how Marinette got her powers and she told a vague story while explaining that she couldn't go into too much detail because of security reasons, and then Alya asked about the battles, how Marinette felt about them, what has been the best and the worst so far, what it was like to work with Chat _(how she felt about Chat_ , was keenly asked as well much to Marinette's everlasting embarrassment), and what were her plans to continue protecting Paris and eventually defeat Hawk Moth.

It had been a smooth, easy, interview and Alya looked so giddily happy that Marinette felt she had succeeded in making it up to her.

And then Alya asked about the girl behind the mask.

"Now we all want to know more about the girl behind the mask," Alya said in her typical confident casual way, "I found your school book once, can I assume you're at school age?"

"Y-y-yeah," Mariette stammered slightly. A sudden uneasy nervousness bubbled up within her stomach as it contradictorily sank with despair. "I go to school."

No one knew Marinette better than Alya.

 _No one!_

Well, okay, maybe Tiki did because Tiki is the only person that knows Marinette is Ladybug and actually lived with her, but other than Tiki, no one knew Marinette better than Alya.

But this meant that if Marinette started to actually answer these questions honestly it wouldn't take Alya too long to put two and two together and unmask her for all of Paris to see.

And that _couldn't happen_!

"So," Alya grinned, "what's your favourite subject?"

" _Physics_!" Marinette lied quickly. "I, erm, err, am complete science nerd! Absolutely love those protons and neutrons, ha, ha, heh!" she laughed sheepishly as she nervously tugged at a pigtail.

There was a bitter vile aftertaste that flooded her mouth after the lie left her mouth. She plastered on her best, fake, Ladybug grin as she continued to lie in between the odd bit of truth. The guilt of ruining Alya's blog's integrity twisted up all of her organs on the inside but it was nothing compared to the self-loathing that almost choked her at each lie she uttered.

She really did hate liars….

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

It was official.

It was right there in black and white on Alya's blog.

Ladybug loved science which Marinette couldn't comprehend. Marinette got all frazzled whenever she tried to answer an equation and no matter how many times Adrien tried to go through one with her during a study session it only ever seemed to confuse and bewilder her even more. Marinette _hated_ science, her favourite subject was art.

Both Marinette and Ladybug loved Jagged Stone the most but who didn't? They also both loved sweets and all flowers but on the other hand Ladybug said that her favourite colour was _green_ , not pink, and Ladybug said she spent all her free time reading about science or doing gymnastics while Adrien knows that Marinette spent all her free time either babysitting or sewing or designing something as epic as Jagged Stone's latest album cover. Marinette was also a huge fan of video games, it was a sacred thing with her Dad and she adores every second their time together, but Ladybug said she wasn't that into them and her she just played with friends every so often.

Ladybug also said she didn't follow fashion and had no preference for any particular style while Marinette _adored_ fashion and would spend hours waxing poetry about the latest design (whenever she thought Adrien was out of earshot and could actually speak coherently).

They were similar but they were not the same person.

Ladybug couldn't be Marinette.

"I suppose that's that then," Adrien said numbly as he stared at the screen, "they're not the same person…"

"Chin up, Kid," Plagg said between bites of his camembert, "now you know for sure you can actually rest."

"Yeah," Adrien murmured feeling strangely empty and unsatisfied, "yeah I can…."

"But not this very minute," Plagg said as he shoved the last piece of cheese into his mouth, "we have patrol remember?"

Usually Adrien would tell Plagg not to be so disgusting to speak with his mouth full while smiling excitedly because he was going to see his Lady soon but now he really couldn't care less. Ladybug and Marinette weren't one and the same and that meant he loved two different girls. Or maybe it meant that he loved one more than the other because all he could feel right now was crushing disappointment that they weren't the same person.

But which one did he love more?

"Plagg," Adrien said tiredly, " _transform me_!"

What used to feel freeing currently felt constraining and heavy as Chat Noir jumped from rooftop to rooftop towards their meeting place. Ladybug was already there punctual as usual which Marinette wasn't and the reminder that they weren't the same person knocked the breath out of him for a moment.

And then he plastered his best (fake) smile that he uses in photoshoots.

"Hey!" he greeted warmly. "Do you think a radioactive cat have eighteen half-lives?"

Ladybug blinked at him bewilderedly. "Huh?!" she said unintelligently.

"Heh," he smiled sheepishly, "just a silly biophysics joke. Thought it would put a smile on your face because you know," he gestured at his costume.

Ladybug just continued to stare at him in confusion. " _Biophysics_?!" she squeaked out.

"Not your thing?" he asked. "Which sort of physics does you like then? Because I know a lot of jokes about Albert Einstein that would knock your _spots_ off!"

"I…." Ladybug shook her head. "….what?" she asked completely bewildered. "Why are you talking about biophysics and physics and Einstein and _radioactive cats_?!"

"I, oh, well, erm, you see," he rambled nervously as he smiled a little sheepishly, "I recently re-read your interview on the Ladyblog and you said science was your favourite subject and I thought you'd appreciate a little science humour."

He now, belatedly, remembered his last few attempts of science humour the first time round he read the interview and Ladybug hadn't taken well to them. Then again in all fairness at the time they were avoiding giant projectiles being blasted at them and that tended to make his Lady a little cranky.

"Oh," Ladybug said flatly as her cheeks burned bright red, "oh," she repeated, "yeah…..that," her voice was filled to the brim with utter disgust, "I wouldn't believe everything you read if I were you."

"….what?" he mumbled.

"Yeah," Ladybug murmured as she looked down at the ground, "I didn't answer all of those questions honestly."

Chat felt his eyes bulged out at that as he stared at Ladybug gormlessly. "You _lied?_!" he yelped. "But you _hate_ liars!"

"Yeah, _exactly_!" Ladybug spat out crossly. "I _**hate**_ liars!"

Their eyes met and he could recognise the self-loathing in her eyes anywhere. He saw it in his own reflection every morning. It never occurred to him, not really, how much she must loathe being Ladybug just because of the lies she always had to tell.

He shook his head bewilderedly.

"I don't understand," he murmured, "Why would lie about the little things like _that_?" Ladybug took in a deep breath as she prepared to answer when something horrible popped into his mind. "Did….did you lie to _me_ about those things?"

"What?" Ladybug blinked. " _No_!" she cried out. "I would _never_! Not _you_! I wouldn't lie to you about that," she promised fervently. "You don't know me to figure it out but Alya…..Alya's my best friend, okay?" she blurted out hurriedly. "She knows me better than _anyone_ and if I told her the truth she would have known it was me within seconds so I had to lie! _I had to!_ I didn't want to or like it but I did it anyway!"

Chat Noir froze at that.

Every fibre of his very being seemed to be utterly frozen as he didn't even dare to breathe let alone hope.

She was Alya's best friend.

Ladybug was Alya's best friend which could only mean….

No! He shook his head abruptly. He reminded himself that Alya and Marinette had only known each other one day more than he knew either girl. He had found it so unbelievable when Nino let that little fact slip because Alya and Marinette were such good friends that you would have believed they have known each other since birth. But that meant that Alya had this whole other life before she met Marinette.

This could be Alya's other best friend from before she started at Collège Françoise DuPont.

And yet….

…and yet…

"Chat?" Ladybug prodded gently. "Are you okay? You're _trembling_!"

So he was. He looked down at his hands and found much to his surprise and embarrassment that they were indeed shaking like mad.

He tried to smile and say something light and flirty and oh, so, reassuring that Ladybug would roll her eyes and let the matter drop.

Instead a despairingly, mad, sob forced itself out of his throat instead.

" _Chat?_!"

"I can't do this anymore," the words fell out his mouth unwillingly, "I can't keep trying to figure it out anymore."

Ladybug stepped forwards and wrapped him up in her arms for a comforting hug but her strange mixed scent of cookies and flowers only made him think of Marinette and that only made him all the more confused. "Do what, Kitty?" she asked soothingly as she scratched behind his cat ears. "Figure out what?"

"If you're _her_ or not," he choked out his confession quickly and quietly against her shoulder. Unable to bear the thought of what her face looked like this very moment. Was she mad? Was she disappointed? Was she completely blank as she tried to keep her emotions to herself? "That Akuma, the one that made people dream about their greatest desire, well it showed me us. You and I _together_ and then you took your mask off and you were _her._ I didn't even realise that I loved her until then."

Ladybug felt stiff beneath him. Her shoulder was tense and her hand was no longer giving him soothing scratches behind his ear. He utterly dreaded to see what she was feeling right now. She probably hated him for wanting her to be someone else.

"Okay…." She breathed out. "That's okay….you're allowed to have feelings for someone else, Kitty, no one is going to judge you for loving someone else."

"I…I…I…" he shuddered as he tried to collect himself. His humiliation for breaking down completely did nothing to help his already turbulent emotions. "She said something that I said to _you!_ " he blurted out. "and she kept disappearing just as you reappeared but then sometimes there's no way she could be you because she was trapped with no way out but then….but then…you like the same things and then you don't like the same things and…..I can't do it anymore….I just can't…."

" _Shh_ …." Ladybug murmured soothingly as her hand resumed movement. Her fingers now smoothed his hair down repeatedly as if he actually was a cat. " _Shh_ …it's all right, Kitty, it's all right…"

"Please, _please_ …it's driving me _insane_ , I _need_ to know…" he buried his nose against her neck and breathed in deeply. She smelled so much like Marinette that it wasn't fair. " _I am begging you_ ," a despairing whisper tore out Chat's throat, "please tell me that you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for reviewing, favouring, and following this fic. I'm glad you all enjoyed it and I hope you continue to enjoy this final chapter.

There was many things that Ladybug thought that Chat Noir would say.

 _Please be this hot sexy actress or model…please be this clever witty scholar…please be this ultra-amazing athlete…please be some other, confident, cool, girl that I am secretly in love with…_

It never occurred to her that he would beg for her to be….well _**her.**_

He wanted her to be _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_.

He wanted the boring, clumsy, pathetic girl that can be incapable of stringing two words together when she's flustered. He wanted her to be the temperamental silly person that jumped to conclusions and made the situation worse. He wanted the girl that aspired to be an original and creative fashion designer but sold out to confirm to other people's ideas or do the easiest thing the first time round.

He wanted someone who was always making mistakes and probably shouldn't have the Miraculous in the first place.

He actually wanted to have the girl behind the mask.

 _He wanted her._

Her breath caught in her throat at that and she almost choked as she tried to speak. It took several, deep, calming breaths before she was ready to try again. She opened her mouth and then –

….immediately closed again when nothing came out.

She remembered Tiki's stern warning about how no one should ever know who she was. It was a rule she held fast on for many reasons, because it was the rules, because it would protect her loved ones from her enemies, because it saved her from being hounded by the press and the fans, but mainly because it would mean she would never disappoint anyone when they found out how boring she truly was.

But Chat Noir wanted her to be _herself._

And he would never tell.

She could still feel him trembling in her arms and there was a growing, warm, damp patch on her neck where she could feel his tears, and she felt her determination and stubbornness turn to steel.

Her partner was tearing himself apart over this.

Her silly insecurities and the stupid rules meant nothing compared to Chat's happiness and well-being. The consequences of her telling someone who was in the same boat as her about her identity was insignificant compared to the consequences of her crime-fighting partner having a complete nervous breakdown that reduced him into being incapable of fighting by her side.

And she so desperately and selfishly needed Chat Noir by her side.

Slowly, she tried to pry him away from. He resisted at first as he arms clamped down round her waist and he buried his face even further into her neck but she remained undeterred as she gently but firmly pushed him away by the shoulders and took several slow steps away.

"Chat," she said softly as her partner avoided her gaze to stare down miserably at the floor, "Chat," she repeated, "I need you to look at me." His eyes didn't even flicker at that. "Look at me, _please!_ "

Slowly and reluctantly he did as she asked, and for a moment his beautiful deep green eyes stole away all the air from her lungs. She had to forcibly remind herself to actually breathe by taking a deep, almost agonising, breath.

"Watch," she said, "just….watch me."

And with one last deep breath as she tried to squash all of her irrational fears and insecurities… she dropped her transformation.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

There is a shower of pink glittery light and as soon as it vanishes Marinette stands in Ladybug's place.

He blinked and she was still there in front of him.

She was still real.

He tightened his grip on her waist to reassure himself that she was solid and real and here. Marinette smiled nervously as hr own hands covered his and squeezed tightly to give himself reassurance.

"I-I-I'm _me_ ," she stammered, "I'm Marinette."

He is vaguely aware that there is a red Kwami hovering over their heads but his attention is solely focused on the girl standing before him. His hands glided up her sides determined to feel that she's _real._ He couldn't help but grin as he felt every inch of her beneath the palms of his hands. He could feel her body move ever so slightly at every breath she took. _She was really here!_ He squeezed her small, slight, shoulders in awe. How many times had he squeezed her shoulder before and not truly appreciate that he was touching the girl he loved?

He was an idiot.

His hands moved up to cup her face. He wished more than anything right now that he wasn't wearing thick leather gloves so he could feel how soft and warm her skin really was. "You're _real_!" he whispered in awe.

She smiled radiantly as one of her hands covered his. "I'm real," she murmured back.

Happiness couldn't even begin with describe how he felt right now. It was too simple and inadequate to explain the excited contentment that bubbled up within his stomach. Ecstatic came close but it still wasn't close enough. He felt liked he could sing and dance and laugh all at once.

He wanted to pick her up and spin her in the air.

He wanted to lead her away into a messy, silly, waltz as he sang her praises.

He wanted to hold on and never let go.

He wanted….

His eyes bore into her big, beautiful, blue ones that got bigger and wider the closer he leaned into her. His lips were mere millimetres away when she suddenly squeaked and shot a hand up between their lips.

Her palm felt warm and soft against his lips, and any other day he would appreciate the chance to kiss her in such a loving manner but he could see the alarmed look in her eyes and her pink flush was more likely connected to her indignation rather than any flattered feelings.

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!" she stammered out. "But…but…I can't…I just…. _can't_!" she choked out despairingly.

Oh.

 _Oh!_

 _ **OH!**_

He had been so caught up in proving that Marinette was Ladybug, so obsessed with that one aspect of his dream, that he had forgotten about all the other parts of his dream. He had forgotten to actually whether or not check that Marinette had any romantic feelings for him as either Chat Noir or Adrien Agreste.

Well…crap.

"It's not that I don't like you!" Marinette blurted out. "Because I _do!_ You're kind and brave and adorably silly and I wouldn't still be here fighting the Akumas if I didn't have you as a partner," he couldn't help but smirk slightly at that. She did like him. There was hope. "It's just….well…I also like someone else."

His breath caught in his throat.

Hope rose up within him….

 _Please!_

"And he's just as nice, and brave, and so honest," Marinette babbled, "he makes me trip over my own feet and suddenly become incapable of forming coherent sentences. I must come across some sort of stammering blushing idiot in front of him. I love him but I lo – really, really like you too, and it's not fair on either of you so I erm, ah, _you know_ …" she trailed off hopelessly her face as red as her superhero costume.

Her words were achingly familiar they echoed his dream almost perfectly to the point that the hope he was clinging onto was beginning to become a heavy weight in his chest.

 _Please!_

"And who exactly is this perfect Prince Charming?" he inquired. Marinette shot him a suspicious look and he gave her his best soft reassuring smile. The one that his father liked to plaster on all of the magazines. "I won't do anything," he promised, "I would just like to put a name to the competition."

That didn't seem to ease her suspicion whatsoever but she also trusted him too much to believe he wouldn't keep his word so instead of refusing she almost broke down immediately. "You can't laugh," she muttered as she ducked to look at the floor, "it's not what you think."

"I don't know what to think because I don't know," he pointed out, "but I won't laugh," he added reassuringly. " _Purr_ -mise."

She rolled her eyes at that before she looked up to meet his eyes again. After a long, hard, stare where he was sure she was examining the darkest corners of his very soul she finally relented with a sigh. "All right," she conceded, "it's…. _AdrienAgreste!_ " she mumbled very quickly.

He almost didn't hear her but, thankfully, his hearing was far superior with the mask on and he was able to catch it in time before he missed it completely.

There was a beat of silence as he digested what he heard, and then –

" _Pfft!_ " he snorted.

 _He couldn't help it!_ He just _couldn't!_ He had spent weeks thinking he must be the scum of the earth for loving two women while simultaneously trying to figure out if they were the same person or if he was just mad. It almost did drive him insane! Then in the space of five minutes he had been on a gigantic emotional rollercoaster filled with twists and turns and upside-down moments as he went from the verge of despair to the biggest relief to full of happiness and love to heartbrokenness to hopeful to extremely happy again so quickly it was a wonder he hadn't suffered motion sickness!

Now he just couldn't stop laughing.

And he means hysterical, tear-inducing, laughter that might result in some rolling on a floor like a jerk.

Marinette was less than impressed with this. _"You promised you wouldn't laugh_!" she hissed furiously.

"Sorry, sorry!" he giggled as he wiped his tears of mirth away. "I didn't mean to. It's just…..heh….I finally understand what they mean when they say you should be careful what you wish for."

Marinette's fury faltered into confusion at that. "What do you mean?" she asked bewilderedly. "Be careful what you wish for?"

"Why," he grinned, "it might come true."

And that was when he dropped his transformation. He could hear Plagg cackling away like a demon as he joined Marinette' Kwami and he's barely aware that the two of them are murmuring between themselves as his attention was solely on his red-faced Princess.

" _Mpfl!_ " Marinette squeaked she blushed all over again. "I…you…..ah…erm…. _guh!_ " she babbled incoherently.

He couldn't help but laugh, utterly delighted, as he pulled her in for a hug. He savoured every second of it as he nuzzled her silky soft air and took in her sweet perfume of cookies and floral shampoo. "It looks like you were wrong, My Lady," he grinned, "my dream was real after all."

"So I was," Marinette agreed happily, "but I'm not complaining. There's worse things to be wrong about."

Yet in another way she was completely right.

His dream induced by the Akuma was nowhere near to being real because no dream, magically induced or not, could ever capture how deliciously sweet her kisses truly are.


End file.
